I must have missed counting a week somewhere.  Skipping 48 and calling this one 49, then.

Another strong week, just where I wanted to be.  Two workouts and a good long run.  Keeping the miles at a good amount, but not going overboard.  Will continue to add quality and also start building in some cross training.

Monday
Run – 10.5 miles
151 TSS
Nike Free

Spent a couple hours on the mill doing my Leadville Powerline course. Two laps, about 3,000′ of climbing. More on that in a later post.

Tuesday
Run – 7 miles
67 TSS
New Balance Minimus Trail

Easy cruise still absorbing last night’s workout.

Wednesday
Run – 11.4 miles
124 TSS
Saucony Kinvara

Time for a hard session. Did 5 repeats on a .35 mile hill (Locust).  Main goal was to make these hurt and see at least 180 on the heart rate monitor.  My legs were still a little fatigued from Monday, but I managed to get some good work in.

2:44 (7:59) / 162avg / 177max
2:31 (7:17) / 165avg / 177max
2:31 (7:17) / 168avg / 177max
2:23 (7:02) / 171avg / 180max
2:24 (7:10) / 171avg / 178max

Thursday
Run – 7 miles
75 TSS
Saucony Kinvara

I love it when an easy day actually feels easy. That is not always the case. Usually I am feeling beat from a previous day’s effort and just slog through the run.

Maybe even more than hitting a good workout, I get satisfaction out of a day like this. The numbers themselves are not impressive:

8:40 pace
138avg

But when taken in context – hard day yesterday, moderate hilly course, early in season, etc. and with how I felt (pretty good) – it’s a good indicator of progress. It’s a far cry from a few years ago when I would occassionally do 4 mile test runs on a flat course going as fast as I could while keeping the heart rate under 140. I used to be over 10:00 pace back then.

After anothe few weeks I’ll get to sub 8:00 at the same average heart rate, or have a heart rate in the 120s at today’s pace.

Couldn’t stop hitting repeat on Linkin Park “Session”.

Friday
Run – 7 miles
73 TSS
New Balance Minimus Trail

Another easy cruise.

Saturday
Run – 20.3 miles
168 TSS
La Sportiva Crosslite

With all of the moon chatter recently (eclipse this morning) it reminded me of a run I did 3 years ago this very weekend. Night laps around Green Mountain (Lakewood) by the light of the full moon.

I dragged my feet all day doing Christmas shopping and working around the house. When it got to be 7pm I knew it was time to get going, but I really wanted to just park my butt on the couch for the evening.

Two things made it happen. The memory of the last time I did this run (it was awesome), and my training log. It sometimes gets old keeping up with a log like this, but it does help when you need an extra little push to get out the door.

I finally got packed up and made the drive to the deserted mountain. It was 23 degrees, but not windy at all. I dressed perfectly and was able to stay comfortable the whole time just by regulating the temp with my jacket zipper.

The moon was bright!! The mountain was covered in snow, but the trail was melted out for at least half of the distance, so it was tough to see in those parts without a light. I ended up using a headlamp quite a bit more than I thought I would, but it was still very cool to be running along under a clear sky with such a bright moon.

3,500′ of gain with 3 main climbs and a lot of rolling terrain in between.  The footing was tough with frozen tracked up snow, or frozen tracked up mud being the most common.  I had a great time and can’t wait to do it again.

Sunday

OFF

Total: 63.4 miles / 10:59 / 653 TSS

Pic of the week: